In Past Show

Most of the subject matter of Hopper's mature work first appears in his youthful drawings, and one of his recurrent themes is the military. In September, 1918, he went to work for Scribner's Magazine doing illustrations. They asked him to read "The Emperor's Ghost", which was based on Napoleon's rise from the mist and his rescue of France. During the Napoleonic period, foot guard regiments carried identical flags, and regimental distinction was entirely by colours of the stave. For the Preobrajenski Regiment, the colour of the stave was brown on all white flags and yellow on all colored flags. Hopper's continuing interest in the Napoleonic wars is evident in this sketch of a foot guard in the Preobrajenski Regiment.

Signature: Titled by the artist in pen and ink: "One of the Preobajenski Regiment".

About Edward Hopper

Edward Hopper defined 20th-century realism with his austere, eerie scenes that conveyed the alienation and isolation of modern life. Nighthawks (1942), a painting of three customers sitting at the counter of a diner late at night, is among his most famous works. The illusion of light pervades his paintings, which depict late 19th-century architecture, coastal views, and scenes of the city. Hopper’s characters, even when painted in groups, seem disconnected and lost in thought. "Great art is the outward expression of an inner life in the artist, and this inner life will result in his personal vision of the world," he said.

American, 1882-1967, Nyack, New York, based in Maine, Massachusetts and New York